The Rabbit Hole

Price: $$ Asian,
Korean

Inside Midtown Global Market

Two years ago, Los Angeles transplants Thomas and Kat Kim launched the Left Handed Cook at Midtown Global Market. It was an instant hit. So much so that MGM management offered to transition the counter-service operation into an honest-to-goodness bar and restaurant. A whole lot of elbow grease later, the Kims — he cooks, she handles everything else — rebranded their business the Rabbit Hole and opened late last year. Those with a hankering for dietary excess have come to the right place — starting with Thomas Kim’s spin on fried rice. It’s stickier than a traditional strip-mall version, and far more nuanced. Spicier, too. The rice is fried in bacon fat, then more smoky bacon is added, its richness countered by sour, long-fermented kimchi and sweet onions. Like the over-the-top poutine, it’s crazy good, in a loosen-your-belt-buckle kind of way. Kim is also something of a burger savant, and his approach to fried chicken is nothing short of triumphant. Dessert is an homage to one of Kim’s earliest childhood food memories, the sweet red bean-filled pancakes that he encountered when his family briefly lived in Korea.